Easter! Not my holiday but I'll celebrate with friends...

Easter is an especially important holiday for many people.

Me? I just come for the food and people!

One of my dear friends has often had me over for various holidays, and this year it was Easter! Her mother makes these delicious cheese pies! They're amazing! Since I was a little girl I've loved them...just thinking about how tasty they are makes me want to eat about 10 of them right now!

See below some pictures from the great afternoon I spent with my friend, her mother, and nephew!

As you can see, the dough for the cheese pies have to be rolled out to just the right consistency.

On to the muffin tin to be filled with eggs, and three kinds of delicious Greek cheeses!

Below is my fellow blogger MG, (check her blog out if you haven't already! it's like sitting down to have coffee with a dear friend when you read it) making sure that the dough settles into the nooks of the muffin tin.

Once the tins are filled with the egg and cheese mixture, the edges are cut with a special dough cutter. This one is well over a hundred years old. It was her mothers, fathers, mothers tool.

A sprinkle of cinnamon....and then into the oven!

Blurry but cute pic of us... and then another of us eating the yummy Easter cheese pies (* not out most flattering photos...but I am sharing it nonetheless).

Yum!

Next we colored some eggs, which as a non-Easter celebrator, was a rare treat! 

...Origins of Sara-Wildflower....

So my non-blog-name is Sara.

When I was a little girl (and now...) I LOVED flowers. While they're referred to as weeds, dandelions, clover, "purples", and goldenrod were daily props when I played out-doors in Ohio. My huge backyard served as host to them, as well as some idle heather flowers and buttercups. My favorite flowers would adorn my head in a wreathy crown, and others would make their way into a stew brewed up by myself and and friends when we were playing "cooking show".

Once while driving with my grandparents, I had grown tired of playing with my car toys (pocket connect four with my then 3 year old brother wasn't working- he kept winning!), and I noticed that there was a GREAT abundance of flowers on the side of the road. Bright amethyst purples! Golden yellows! Screaming pinks!! I was in heaven...Now this all goes back to a few things about me: I was a total spoiled princess when I was a kid. Not like "here's a pony 'Precious, go have fun"...but if I wanted something reasonable- I got it. Just because I knew how to ask, and was coincedentally charming as a fox! Also as a person who was born an artist- color does something to me- as a child there was no way for me to communicate it- but I NEEDED color. Often I'd use grass and dandilions to stain my keds white shoes in different patterns...Back to the car.

So these great big fiels on the side of the road had me so excited! I couldn't take it any longer and asked my grandpa to pull over so I could pick flowers. First he laughed- and said we were almost to our destination. Then my grandma made a joke about bugs being all over them and that I didn't 'need' those flowers and kept knitting. And I asked again- nicely. Also adding that my mom lets me pick flowers all the time. And yet again my request was met with a no, and a kind joke. So, the fact that I was very wound up about these flowers, and a bit of a brat who just got told no-TWICE; I sort of freaked out. When the story is retold I said a few different things but I remember saying something to the effect of : "IF YOU DON'T LET ME OUT SO I CAN GET FLOWERS I WILL THROW MYSELF OUT THE WINDOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" At a freakishly high decible and legs flailing. FULL OUT TANTRUM. Yeah, that was me. Charming as ever...
My poor grandparents  didn't know what to do, so they caved (mind you at this point my brother who was sleeping woke up asked if we were on the side of the road b/c I had to pee...). I literally picked ONE golden rod, ONE daisy , and ONE queen annes lace. Later that evening when telling my mom about the days events (while I slept  happily with the wilted bouquet in a plastic hotel cup of water next to me)- my mom filled them in on a little secret- She called me (and still does- much to my liking actually) Sara Wildflower and let me run through fields to pick flowers. Yes...I was a hippie even as a kid. And in Ohio it wasn't hard to find fields that had tons of flowers.So she'd stop on the side of the road for me.

So flash forward about 21 years. You'll notice that the majority of my photos are of flowers. This is because something inside of me NEEDS them. And I can't very well (as a sane, rational adult) take them all with me. I can't always pull over to pick goldenrods (though I did once, and there was an enormous weird bug on it that I didn't notice until it was flying around my car...lesson learned. I'm not going to do that anymore). So the second best way (actually the first best way since I don't have to kill them to keep them) for me to feed my drive for flora is to take their picture. So you get to know a little bit about one of the few nicknames my mom has for me, as well as why 97% of the pictures I post are of flowers.

                                                       Me, posing with my loves...

Flowers are amazing and whenever people ask me to choose my favorite I am just comepletey unable to even pick one. Orchids are so exotic and luscious...their scent is positively delicious. Yet at the same time a simple daisy can make me smile and make a day better in an instant.

My friends change the world

If somebody was to ask you what your most prized posession was, what would your answer be? A family heirloom? Photos from the past? An award of some sort?

Well, if you ask me what my most prized posession was, I'd have to say that I have many (and wont' choose just one becauseyoucantmakemenononono!)....and aside from my most absolutely final 100% first answer being my soul (as it's the only thing you can really possess) I have to say my many dear excellent friends. Old ones, new ones. It's amazing how blessed I am to know the stellar human beings that I do. Kind, generous, beautiful, wild, creative, amazing people who are accompanying me in my life.

One in particular needs to be called out. Jessica R. Now we've known each other...almost 5 years. Maybe a little more or less- I don't know the exact awesome date that we met- but it was an awesome day. And like all friends we've had disagreements, and don't always share the exact point of view; luckily though we usually do and completely agree that the world needs a REVOLUTION, and it'll most likely be though food. She's a [LEVEL 9] vegan and has basically committed her life to making it better. For 9-5 she's a social worker and all the time she's an artist.Now this awesome girl Jessica- She is really changing the world. She's my most favorite vegan (even more so than Alecia Silverstone), and a sick writer. Not ill/sick feeling bad- but SICK like her words are like precious jewels strung together to create an abundance of treasure that is her knowledge, compassion and ability to make anyone feel empowered.  She has a blog (posted on the bottom of my blog, Mother Earth R.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.S.), and is a writer for Change.org (here is a link to her most recent contribution).
I am so proud of her, and honored to call her my dear friend.

Of course there are SO many of my friends whom I could blather on about who are also incredibly talented, kind, and do amazing things for the world- but is it selfish if I say that my friends(each and every single one) is special to me because of how happy they make me, and how much they make me smile and laugh?



In other news I am happily gluten free right now. Here is a link on why gluten is not so great to eat...
While I am not a Celiac, gluten, is like glue....who wants that in their body? I just feel better. I mean, yeah bread is great but not better than how I feel.
But of course I know that while I have made this change, there are plenty of others that can be made as well. In the past few days I've been feeling overwhelmed- I'm less lazy so more things are getting done but I really need some time to create and work on some projects that have been on the back burner. One of them is a collection of paintings using mixed media as a critique on the world around me....as well as seeing if my town is able to start a composting project with schools. I hope it's feasible b/c there are so many great things that can trickle down from there. All in due time I suppose.

TO conclude I have started my 2 week crash training for a 5 mile race. It's my first one and I'm scared actually. But it's cool. Things that are scary are often scary because they force you to grow and challenge you to rise out of your current state. So I'm excited too.

 

  

I'd like to post this link to Jessica's most recent blog. She's a mind blowing talented writer who expresses her thoughts brilliantly. Please read, and subscribe. I adore her. What she's talking about was what I initially started my blog to do. I wanted to share ideas in a similar vein- somehow I got sidetracked. 

My point- this is it:  http://saynotobarbie.wordpress.com/

  

LOVE and GRATTITUDE

Thats what I feel right this very second.

I have the most amazing friends and family.

It's times like these where you count your blessings, and I have many.

Oh, I can't wait to create more art, and have a private showing. It's going to happen. And a lot sooner than I realized. All I can do is put that energy out there and see what comes back. Among other things.